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  1. Read the full text of Resumé, a witty and cynical poem by Dorothy Parker that lists the reasons not to live. The poem is from The Portable Dorothy Parker, edited by Brendan Gill.

    • Summary of Resumé
    • Structure of Resumé
    • Literary Devices in Resumé
    • Analysis of Resumé

    Throughout this short poem, the speaker takes the reader through seven different ways to kill oneself. From gas, to guns, and razors, each one of these is introduced and dismissed for very simple reasons. Rather than strive to end her life, the speaker is put off by the dampness of water and the smell of gas. This might lead one to conclude that sh...

    ‘Resumé’ by Dorothy Parker is an eight-line poem that is contained within one stanza of text. The lines follow a rhyme schemeof ABAB CDCD and a regular metrical pattern of diameter. The latter refers to the number of beats per line. In this case, there are two sets of two beats, for a total of four, per line.

    Parker makes use of several literary devices in ‘Resumé’ these include but are not limited to alliteration, half-rhyme, and epistrophe. The latter, epistrophe, is the repetition of the same word, or phrase, at the end of multiple lines or sentences. In this case, the poet uses “you” at the ends of lines one and three. These endings are known as exa...

    Lines 1-4

    In the first lines of ‘Resumé’, the speaker begins by introducing the first of several ways that she has considered killing herself. She speaks first about “Razors” as a possibility. But, she dismisses this particular method because it would be so painful. Without any background information about why she’s thinking about killing herself, she immediately transitions to the next and next possible method of ending her life. She contemplates the possibility of walking into a river and drowning he...

    Lines 5-8

    The next ways she considers committing suicide progress much like the previous four. She thinks of one and then immediately rules it out. These include “Guns,” “Nooses,” and “Gas”. There is a reason attached to each method that keeps her from turning to it. None of these are very appealing to her and she ends up deciding instead that “You might as well live”. The last line rounds the poem off in a sudden and declarative way, much like the way she dismissed all the previous ways of killing her...

    • Female
    • October 9, 1995
    • Poetry Analyst And Editor
  2. Powered by LitCharts content and AI. "Resumé," Dorothy Parker's sardonic poem about suicide, first appeared in her 1926 collection Enough Rope. Running down a list of all the various ways a person might try to end their own life, the poem's speaker decides against them one by one: they're all too messy, too unpleasant, or too tedious.

  3. From Enough Rope (Boni & Liveright, 1926) by Dorothy Parker. This poem is in the public domain. This poem is in the public domain. A founding member of the Algonquin Round Table, Dorothy Parker's work was known for its scathing wit and intellectual commentary

  4. Jun 3, 2024 · Dorothy Parker (born August 22, 1893, West End, near Long Beach, New Jersey, U.S.—died June 7, 1967, New York, New York) was an American short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and critic known for her witty—and often acerbic—remarks. She was one of the founders of the Algonquin Round Table, an informal literary group.

    • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
  5. Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet and writer of fiction, plays and screenplays based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Parker rose to acclaim, both for her literary works published in magazines, such as The New Yorker, and as a ...

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  7. Razors pain you; / Rivers are damp; / Acids stain you; / And drugs cause cramp. / Guns aren’t lawful; / Nooses give; / Gas smells awful; / You might as well live.

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